Race raises funds for domestic violence
Now in its fourth year, 5K has raised $30K for Valparaiso shelter
Beth Hefner wears two rubber bracelets, one black and one purple, for Bri’s RACE to End Domestic Violence. Her granddaughter, Brynn, 6, wears bracelets on her ankles.
The race commemorates Brianna Hefner Ballor, who was shot to death in a murder-suicide by her husband, Glenn Ballor, late on the night of May 10, 2015. Brynn, then 2, was in the home, which is next to Hefner’s, but was unharmed.
RACE, which stands for Raising Awareness Changes Everything, is in its fourth year and has raised around $30,000 for The Caring Place, a shelter for victims of domestic violence in Valparaiso. In reality, the event, scheduled for Sept. 28 at Gabis
Arboretum, has done so much more than that.
Hefner and Porter Circuit Court Judge Mary Harper, who knew Brianna professionally and her mother personally, came together with the idea to honor Brianna’s memory with a run, something she loved to do and excelled at, to carry her legacy forward and to raise awareness about domestic violence.
At the time of her death, Brianna, who was valedictorian of her class at Morgan Township High School and ran low hurdles on the track team, had recently been promoted to supervisor at the Porter County Juvenile Detention Center, where she had worked for five years.
Harper said Brianna, who was her employee, was one of her younger supervisors at 31 and on a fast track to advance.
“I went to the funeral service and just the magnitude for the loss for the little girl who was sitting at the front of the room was devastating,” Harper said. “I thought about how we could honor Bri and turn such a terrible situation into how we could do something positive for the community.”
Harper asked Hefner if she would consider a race in Brianna’s memory to benefit The Caring Place.
“She was impacted by that request,” Harper said, adding Brianna’s fellow employees in the juvenile system immediately began pitching in, and the board of commissioners approved allowing county computers and resources to organize the race. “The dedication of the people involved has been remarkable.”
The race has raised awareness about domestic violence, said Mary Beth Schultz, The Caring Place’s president and chief executive officer, but those struggling with it still need access to services.
The facility opened a new shelter Sept. 9 after a capital campaign to replace the older home with costly structural problems that wasn’t large enough for all those in need. Last year, the agency served 97 adults and 44 children for a total of 4,071 bed days, according to Mary Isaacs, fiscal director. There were 1,721 crisis calls on its 24-hour crisis line.
One in four women and one in nine men experience some kind of violence or abuse at the hands of an intimate partner, according to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence website. On average, nearly 20 people per minute are physically abused by an intimate partner in the U.S., equating to more than 10 million men and women during one year, it says.
“The warning signs aren’t always the same because some people just snap,” Schultz said.
Before her daughter’s death, Hefner was unaware of The Caring Place.
“I didn’t know anything about domestic violence. I never thought about it. Even at this point, I have to say it’s probably the same for many people. Why would they?” Hefner said. “I’m here to say they should. It might be a friend. It might be a stranger. But they’re here.”
During a speech at The Caring Place’s recent fundraising gala, Hefner said there were several incidents involving Brianna’s husband that made her uneasy, but she brushed them off. She still struggles with that.
“There were a lot of signs, but I never in my wildest dreams thought he would kill her. I knew he had a very bad temper and I knew he did things that weren’t right,” Hefner said. “It’s still hard for me to believe that he would do that.”
For more information on Bri’s RACE to End Domestic Violence 5K walk/run and one-mile fun run, go to runsignup.com/Race/IN/ Valparaiso/BrisRace. Amy Lavalley is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.